Hikind To Mayor Mike: Denounce Ground Zero Mosque and Imam

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is calling on Mayor Bloomberg to withdraw his support of the Ground Zero mosque in the wake of the revelation of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s anti-American and anti-Western rhetoric. Rauf has been quoted as saying, “We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands that al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims. . .the West has not been cognizant and has not addressed the issue of its own contribution to much injustice in the Arab and Muslim world.”Hikind, who has been an outspoken critic of the proposed project, recently demanded that the Mayor apologize to all New Yorkers for his sanctimonious remarks chastising those who oppose the building of the mosque.

“The Mayor needs to publicly denounce this contemptuous Imam and withdraw his support for the project,” Hikind said. “It is unconscionable for this plan to move forward.”

Hikind also noted, “How can this mosque possibly promote tolerance and understanding when the very foundation will be built with blood money from our enemies in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim countries which despise us?

Hikind’s sentiments were echoed by the Rabbinical Alliance of America, an Orthodox rabbinic organization which boasts more than 800 members.

“Opposition to the building of the mosque is not an issue of religious intolerance or a matter of us versus them,” said Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America. “People of all faiths should be appalled by the Imam’s remarks and very frightened at the possibility of terrorist monies funding this endeavor.”

Hikind added, “63% of New Yorkers oppose the building of this mosque. That’s a statistic that simply cannot be ignored.”

4 COMMENTS

Dov Hikind hit the nail on the head. The mosque is misplaced. The imam is definitely the wrong person to head any mosque anywhere in America. Our freedom of religion gives the imam that right, regardless. However, in twerms of wisdom and sensitivity, the WTC is definitely the place for any mosque at this time. Thank you Dov !!

Mr Hikind would be making a great point had he suggested his objection to this mosque based on the Imams alleged terrorist connections, but the moment he connected his objections based on the Imams issues with true facts which are maybe not being fully conclusive considering why the U.S. went into Iraq which was due to the great amount of WMD’s Sadam claimed he had and we therefore felt it to be a threat to ourselves and world peace, where the Imam could then argue that there were no WMD’s found well that appears to be a legitimate claim but we know that secretly Sadam sent them else where. Whatever the case is theres an argument here which is fully legitimate and not a reason to conclude the Imam a terrorist or bad for that matter, only his alleged terrorist ties ie chamas and other connections which are trully worrying